It’s wild to think I played and reviewed Civilization VI nearly a decade ago and now Civilization VII is finally here for newcomers and series fanatics like myself. While previous games changed the formula up with its tile shapes and city planning, Civilization VII dramatically changes up its progression system. No longer will you start as the Roman Empire and see the Caesars rule into the space age. Now, you’ll see your civs evolve from Ancient Rome to the Spanish Empire and so on. How does this new entry in the beloved strategy game series feel? Find out in our Sid Meier’s Civilization VII review!
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K
Platform: PC, Xbox, Switch, PlayStation
Release Date: February 11th, 2025
Players: Single, Online Multiplayer
MSRP: $59.99 (Review Copy Received)
For the first several games the Civilization series mostly focused on better graphics while not changing the formula up too much. Civilization IV, long-considered one of if not the best entry in the series, modernized the series’ formula while introducing HD graphics.
Civilization V brought a massive change – swapping its square map tiles to hexagonal tiles, dramatically changing up the game. Civilization VI went a step further and had city districts get built on separate tiles – meaning you really have to plan those cities out.
Now, Civilization VII goes even further in reinventing the series core mechanics by having you change your preferred civ after each age. This literal transition from the old age and civ to an entirely new one is a huge gamble for the series and it has already been changed up since release.
Switching to the next age was a big surprise for me, where my budding Roman empire had to convert into a new Spanish empire. This also brings all of your main tech up to that historical period, meaning you’ll never see a knight on horseback fighting an airplane like in previous games.
The now-optional (thankfully) age transition removed all of your units and reset city states so they’re neutral again. While your capital city remains, any other upgraded cities also revert back to towns. The only other thing that remains are your tile improvements, your borders, and whatever state your diplomacy is at. To be clear, the new age transition still does all of this but you get to keep your units, who all get upgraded.
This gamble also comes alongside another massive change for the series – civ leaders are no longer tied to specific civ types, meaning you can have Benjamin Franklin leading the Hawaiians with Shintoism as their religion. All of this is tied to your leader, your choices, and your progression in each age too. The mix-matching of leaders and civs leads to goofy moments where I initially had no idea what empire Ben Franklin was leading in the modern era (hint: it wasn’t America).
One thing to note about the various civ leaders you can choose – while we’ve got Augustus there’s no Gandhi, and there’s some that got two versions for some reason. Gandhi memes aside, there’s also questionable additions as leaders that were never in any sort of leadership role in history.
I appreciate that the team at Firaxis looked at ways to breathe new life into the series, but the original age transition was a bit too jarring. Fans, myself included, felt it was too much to have the entire map wiped of units alongside all the other changes that come with a new era.
I think one of the unique things about Civilization was that it admitted not all nations are the same, and they don’t reach the same technological achievements. This new system brings everyone to the same level in each age (antiquity, exploration, and modern), so you’re never really behind.
Sometimes you could hold onto your Roman Legions for a bit longer because they got so cheap to make and remained powerful for a long time. This happened with other units, too, but in the new age you have to start all over. I’ll miss those goofy battles where you could have huge gaps in tech.
A small gripe is while antiquity covers the first 4000 years of history, the exploration age feels too broad as it starts at the fall of the western Roman empire (400 AD) through the industrial age (1750 AD). In comparison, the modern age goes from the 18th century until the first manned spaceflight, in the 1950s.
The big changes with age progression aren’t good or bad though. On the one hand this new system partially resets everything with each age, which can feel like a setback. On the other hand, you can experiment more and switch between military, science, and culture without pigeonholing yourself.
One thing that is a love or hate part of Civilization VII is that it further simplifies things like removing builders entirely. Now when you add improvements or buildings, you just place it and they get built. You also can’t buy tiles anymore, you can only expand your borders with population growth, which I think is to limit quick expansion. This also leads to awkward spots like a single tile in the middle of my empire that I seemingly can never take over.
The game’s original interface was almost too simple to where it was annoying. After post-launch updates the interface is not only way better and more informative, there’s also tutorials everywhere. Tutorials galore. At this point I’d say Civilization VII is now the best entry to start with in the series history.
Civ VII also simplified its religion and government systems so much so that they both feel almost like an afterthought. Your government policy only really affects your “celebrations”, an event that nets you temporary buffs. Religion only happens in the exploration age and feels like a game of whack-a-mole with competing faiths.
Overall though, Civilization VII remains an extremely polished and fun game. The combat is also more refined than ever with so many variables. You can get so many buffs (or debuffs) from things like trees, rivers, cliffs, and so on. Individual battles feel rewarding and the min/maxing of unit types is fun.
The new Influence currency, which is essentially the base for all politics in the game, is also a breath of fresh air. Everything from opening borders to condemning aggressors costs influence, and winning over city states is particularly costly if you want to avoid war.
Visually, it’s clear from the get-go that Civilization VII is the prettiest the series has ever looked. Everything from individual building tiles, to unit animations, and most of all the leader avatars all look great. Even with lots of units moving around the game still hums along and looks great.
As with any pure strategy game like Civilization there isn’t really a story here per se, it’s the story you, the player, create. However, Civilization VII did add a fun narrative event system that make callbacks to things actually done previously in your game.
Like all the previous Civilization games, the soundtrack in Civilization VII is absolutely gorgeous and spans the breadth of mankind’s soundscape. The music changes and adapts like before with other civs you encounter, and mostly focuses on your current civ and the current age.
Effects sound great from melee combat, cannons popping off, to the leaders saying things in their native tongue. The narration that provides numerous famous quotes is particularly wonderful as well.
I think the big changes to progression in Civilization VII will turn off purists in the series and there are some minor issues but this game has been improved with updates. I remember when Civ V launched and some diehards had gripes, but now it’s generally liked by fans.
Despite my smaller nitpicks, Civilization VII is a thoroughly fun and refined game. It’s clear the team has looked at literally everything that makes this series what it is, and has tried everything to make it bigger and better. Civilization VII has evolved the series further and still has me begging for one more turn.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII was reviewed on PC using a digital copy provided by 2K. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is now available worldwide for Windows PC (via Steam), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PS4, and PS5.
